Melt Bar and Grilled

Reviews 4

ME

Melanie Tam

Ive had this place bookmarked since I saw it on Man v. Food. When one of my friends recommended it, it was just another sign that I needed to check this place out. The only thing is - its not exactly in Cleveland. Its about a 20 minute drive out of the city, so if you have a car, thats fine. Theres plenty of parking. But if you have to take a cab or public transportation (if it even goes there - not too sure since Im not from around town), then its not really worth it. I had the Cleveland cheesesteak (braised pulled beef brisket, garlic mushrooms, sautéed onions & peppers, rosemary onion aioli, provolone). It comes with a side of fries but since we were already getting Hangover Fries (hand cut fries, seared pork belly, mozzarella cheese curd, rich gravy, fried sunny up egg & scallions), we subbed it for a soup for an extra $2. The Hangover Fries is exactly what is sounds like. Or at least how I would imagine it - kind of like how you mix too many different types of drinks the night before, that dont belong together. Its a similar situation here. Everything sounded like it would taste good together, but it just didnt mesh well for some reason. It was too much. I think if I ate these during an actual hangover, I would probably vom. But back to the sammies. The first few bites are good. Everything is packed with flavor. But then when everything starts falling apart, and the sauce is a bit much is when you start getting nauseous. Its one of those foods where you first eat it and you love it. But as you eat it more, you almost kind of hate it. Im not saying I hate it. It wasnt that bad but it was just too heavy for me, which I was expecting. The roasted garlic tomato soup that I got, tasted like they poured tomato soup out of a jar. My boyfriend had the Might Macaroni (macaroni & cheese battered and deep fried, layered with cheddar cheese sauce & your favorite Melted cheese). This again was too much for a sandwich. But I think it would be good as an appetizer (I think they have mac and cheese bites, which is probably the same thing). He wanted to add garlic as an add-on but they said they only had garlic powder, which was kind of weird...how are you going to count that as an "add-on" and then charge the customer $2 for some seasoning? Made no sense so he opted out of it. For his soup, he got the buffalo chicken chowder (creamy spicy soup with pulled chicken, blue cheese, celery, carrots & banana peppers). I liked this soup the best out of everything we ate. Surprisingly, it wasnt overly creamy. Our waitress wasnt too attentive, but she was really nice. My boyfriend was about to order a full sandwich until she suggested that a half would be more than enough. So Im glad that Melt isnt just out to hustle their customers (you know, garlic powder situation aside). If youre nearby, maybe get half a sandwich to share. But fair warning - you WILL feel like a greasy bear afterwards!

GR

Gregory Allen

I dont know what to say. We ordered carry-out, which would supposedly take an hour and fifteen minutes, which seemed excessive to me. I ordered the Monte Cristo and my girlfriend ordered a Chicken Paprikash Sandwich which was the monthly special. It was absolutely spectacular. Unfortunately my fries were soggy from sitting (We took too long getting there, totally our fault.) but still had a good flavor, and Im sure if they were crispy and fresh, they would have been fantastic, and the girlfriend loved them how she got them. First: Flavor! I took one bite and knew it was love. The outside was still crispy from being deep-fried, and the inside was warm and delicious. The mixed-berry dipping sauce was tart and sweet, and blended perfectly with the flavors of the cheese and meats. Overall, the sandwich flavors were well-balanced and each complemented the others well. I had a few bites of my girlfriends chicken paprikash sandwich and... Wow... I didnt think I could like it more than I liked my monte cristo. The texture was perfect, the chicken to dumpling ratio was totally decent, and the flavor was incredible. Both of these sandwiches were 10 out of 10 in their own right, but the paprikash sandwich is untouchable. If this becomes a regular menu item, there will not be a trip to cleveland that does not involve me going to Melt for a sandwich. Portion! It was not exceptionally large, by any means. But it was definitely 10 dollars worth of food. I had the appetite of 2 bears tonight so there was no stopping me from finishing the whole thing, but on average I would say the sandwich would last 2 meals. Ambience: It was carry out, so I didnt get to sit in there to eat, but I got the impression that its a very unique experience (My scene, for sure). I mean, anywhere that offers a 25% discount if you have their logo or name tattooed on you gets a big win in my book. My understanding is there are vegan and vegetarian options as well, and Ill probably give them a whirl eventually. GOGOGO to Melt.

A

A Private User

Wish I could leave zero stars. Nobody wants to wait 3hrs especially when its not that good, if you are going to be that popular you need to have a wait list. We were told 1hr 30 min wait and so we went out and came back with 30 min to spare. Asked if our name was called and they said no. Then proceeded to wait 2 more hours. 1hr 30 min after we were told the wait would be we ask again if our name had been called they looked at the scheduled and said we had been skipped. They sat us next and took our order. 40 min wait for the food. You would have thought they would have pushed our order ahead or something considering they screwed up our wait time. We only ordered hamburgers and fries, how difficult is it to cook that! seriously. The place isnt even that big. The food was hot at least but they are supposedly supposed to be known for their awesome cheese but my blue cheese burger had hardly any cheese on it, not even an average amount was there. The food was decent but not worth the wait or worth the hype even. Applebees or Fridays could beat this place easily. They tried to make up for the problems with free drinks and dessert at the end, but we only ordered soft drinks so that wasnt much. The desert was kinda gross too didnt even eat much of it. To sum it all up tried to use the bathroom but they had one stall in the whole place and it was dirty there was no toilet paper or paper towels. The best thing about the place was they were playing most extreme challenge on the tv. The wait staff was apologetic and nice but still doesnt change the fact that my whole night was wasted at this place and i spent 20 bucks for average food. To top it off this was a celebration dinner for my one year anniversary. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE. Check out Cornerstone Brewery in Berea, the place is just as small and popular and has amazing food and shorter wait time.

A

A Private User

Ive visited Melt Bar and Grilled a few times and every time I have, the food and the service have been excellent. Every different server I’ve ever had there were all great and personable. The Parmageddon is probably one of the most amazing sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. The Big Popper is a brilliant hybrid between a jalapeno popper and a Monte Cristo sandwich. I not so sure about the fried Twinkie, but the bread pudding was to die for. Best of all, their beer selection is the best in Cleveland. The only thing I would have to criticize is the wait and the management. I asked my last server why the wait was so long to get a table (2 hours!) and to get my food (1 hour!). I actually felt kind of bad for her because of the amount of times she apologized for the long wait. She told me the kitchen only had the capacity to make 8 sandwiches at a time. I thought she was joking. What kind of idiot management would buy out the store next store in order to expand their restaurant and not also expand their kitchen to accommodate the larger space? Great! You can service more people that will now just end up having to wait a ridiculously longer time because you can only make 8 sandwiches at a time. I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, the restaurant’s food, servers and atmosphere are great. Would I go back? I wish but not until management shapes up and gets a bigger kitchen so customers don’t have to wait 4 hours just have lunch or dinner. I was told that they are planning on opening another Melt in the East side. Let’s hope they plan better that time.